, 1. Which of the following is classified as a living organism by biologists?
A) DNA molecule
B) Bacterium
C) Metabolic energy
D) Feather
E) Meteorite
2. One reason we consider the dormant seed of a desert plant to be alive is that it
A) is extracting energy from the environment.
B) formed within a nonliving structure.
C) is evolving.
D) contains genetic material.
E) is always converting molecules into new biological molecules.
3. One reason biologists consider viruses to be a part of life is that viruses
A) are composed of cells.
B) evolve.
C) live independently.
D) carry out physiological functions, independently of cells.
E) extract energy from the environment.
4. Suppose you were leading a team looking for extraterrestrial life on distant
planets. You find something that you suspect might be a living organism. Which
characteristic would be a requirement in order for it to be classified as a living
organism?
A) Ability to self-replicate
B) Genetic material in the form of DNA
C) Cellular structure that includes a nucleus
D) Ability to transform energy from the sun through photosynthesis
E) Aerobic metabolism
5. The abundance of O2 led to the evolution of
A) anaerobic eukaryotes.
B) aerobic eukaryotes.
C) anaerobic prokaryotes.
D) aerobic prokaryotes.
E) Both b and d
6. The Curiosity rover is currently searching for signs of life on Mars. What kind of
evidence would most likely indicate the presence of living organisms on Mars?
A) Fossilized prokaryotic cells
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,B) Different nucleic acids and amino acids than those found on Earth
C) Fatty acid molecules
D) Complex molecules containing genetic information
E) Simple organic molecules
7. Evidence indicates that all life on Earth today
A) has a single common ancestor.
B) requires oxygen for life.
C) is able to extract energy from the sun.
D) evolved from ancestors containing genetic material in the form of proteins.
E) is multicellular.
8. If we picture the history of Earth as a 30-day month, modern humans arose
A) at the beginning of week 4.
B) on day 27.
C) in the last 5 minutes of day 30.
D) on day 15.
E) in the early morning of day 30.
9. Earth is approximately _______ years old.
A) 2–3 thousand
B) 4–5 million
C) 40–50 million
D) 4–5 billion
E) 5 trillion
10. Which of the following is the most probable order of appearance of molecules
and structures that led to the evolution of life on Earth?
A) Nucleic acids, proteins, membranes, cells
B) Proteins, membranes, nucleic acids, cells
C) Membranes, nucleic acids, proteins, cells
D) Cells, membranes, nucleic acids, proteins
E) Proteins, cells, nucleic acids, membranes
11. What is one major reason that the earliest organisms on Earth were confined to
the oceans?
A) The oxygen in the atmosphere was toxic.
B) There was not enough oxygen in the atmosphere to support life.
C) Not enough ultraviolet light could penetrate the atmosphere to support life.
D) The oceans created a shield against the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation.
E) The salt within the oceans provided the raw materials for making proteins.
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, 12. If you were able to travel back in time 4 billion years to when life first appeared
on Earth, what feature of Earth would make it immediately impossible for you to
survive?
A) The high ozone content of the air would interfere with metabolic processes.
B) There would be no water on Earth.
C) There would not be enough ultraviolet radiation to support photosynthesis.
D) There would not be any protein-containing organisms for food.
E) The oxygen content of the air would be too low to support aerobic metabolism.
13. What is the correct order in which the following appeared during the early
evolution of life on Earth?
A) Oxygen, ozone, photosynthesis, life on land
B) Photosynthesis, oxygen, ozone, life on land
C) Life on land, photosynthesis, oxygen, ozone
D) Ozone, oxygen, photosynthesis, life on land
E) Oxygen, photosynthesis, life on land, ozone
14. A prerequisite for the survival of life on land was the accumulation of a
protective layer of
A) O2 in the atmosphere.
B) CO2 in the atmosphere.
C) water vapor in the atmosphere.
D) ozone in the atmosphere.
E) bacteria in the soil.
15. The chemical formula for molecular oxygen is
A) O.
B) O2.
C) H2O2.
D) O3.
E) CO2.
16. Ozone is important to life on Earth because it
A) is used for aerobic metabolism.
B) can be used in place of oxygen.
C) helps block ultraviolet radiation.
D) provides energy to some basic forms of life.
E) sits in the lower atmosphere as a protective layer.
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